


The Dynamic Duo

by blackpercy



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, anyway so i used up 8 hrs of adderall to finish this so yall better appreciate this, batgirl!rachel and robin/nightwing percy, did somebody say BATFAM AU, im so powerful omfg, make no mistake these two are black, the power i hold...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:06:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27361699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackpercy/pseuds/blackpercy
Summary: Rachel Dare becomes Batgirl after proving herself to Artemis Grace, the mysterious Batwoman. When she meets Percy Jackson, Robin, their lives intertwine in beautiful ways.
Relationships: Rachel Elizabeth Dare/Percy Jackson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. How It Starts

Her steel-toed boots hit the gravelly floor of the roof as she runs, her cape flowing behind her as she tucks and rolls.

All her training kicks in for this moment, Rachel promptly jumps off the roof into an alley. She blends into the darkness, steadying her heartbeat as she presses against the wall.

The heavy sound of Black Mask’s goons entered the alley. Rachel reminds herself to breathe. She’s _Batgirl_ , she knows how to take down a couple of lousy goons.

“Where’d she go?” One asks. His voice sounds comically baffled. She smirks in the darkness. It should be. “She just disappeared!”

“Nothing’s really gone,” Rachel says as she steps out of the shadows. Her voice is teasing, lilting up and down in a sing-song manner. “It’s just hidden.”

Then she throws the first punch and the fight is underway.

* * *

“To be fair, nobody could have anticipated that sniper.”

Rachel hobbles after Batwoman, pointedly ignoring her exasperated sigh. She’s purposely walking quickly and it’s a struggle for her smaller, injured form. She paces the length of the Batcave, with Rachel not far behind.

Rachel had grossly underestimated her opponents during that fight. Apparently, Black Mask had expected some intervention and a rookie vigilante was the perfect opportunity to send a message. Rachel had been shot in the side thirty minutes into the fight (the really sad thing was that she had been doing great, too) and Batwoman had rushed to the scene.

“I told you to stop this, Rachel,” The Bat huffs. “You shouldn’t be fighting criminals. You’re not-”

“I’m not what?!” She demands, raising her voice. Rachel moves in front of her, squaring her shoulders and looking her in the eye defiantly. “Tall enough? Strong enough? _Good_ enough? I would be if you trained me!”

“I’m not training you.”

“You’re Batwoman!”

“And you’re thirteen, Rachel.” She says. Her voice is rich and incredibly frustrated. The dark pools of eyes on Batwoman’s cowl stare back at her. Her profile is tall and powerful. No hair is visible under her cowl and a calm, self-assured voice speaks from under it. 

“You just got _shot_ , I’m not endangering you because you have something to prove.”

“What about Robin?” She asks, undeterred. Rachel knows for a fact that Robin is the same age as she is and Batwoman had no qualms about making _him_ a vigilante. “Why doesn’t that rule apply to him, too.”

“Robin needs closure. The mantle gives him that.” 

“Bull,” Rachel scoffs. Her voice echoes in the near-empty Batcave. Batwoman eyes the girl strangely. She had read up on the girl ever since the gala, where Batgirl had made her first appearance. 

Rachel Elizabeth Dare is a quick-witted redhead with the stubbornness of a brick wall. She was thirteen, five foot, and she had been taking kickboxing and judo from the age of nine. She was the daughter of one of the richest men in Gotham, Edward Dare. Her father’s company was notoriously corrupt, and Rachel had given herself quite a name in Gotham for her frequent rebellious escapades. She was also a well-known youth activist.

For three months, Rachel Dare had been bothering her about training her formally, but Batwoman had always dismissed her. Tonight, though, Rachel had shown resilience. She had taken down Black Mask’s goons with a bullet wound in the side and _survived_. Artemis could see that this wasn’t a fleeting infatuation with vigilantism. The young girl was serious about being a hero. 

She surveys her again. Rachel is slumped in the Batcomputer chair (even though he has told her numerous times not to sit there). Her curly red hair is poking every which way, and her freckly brown skin is slightly sheeny with sweat. The pale-colored bandages wrapped across her torso slightly constrict her movement. She’s wearing a maroon sweatshirt that Hermes had picked for her.

“Fine,” she rumbles. She doesn’t bat an eyelash as Rachel slowly registers his voice. Her eyes grow wide.

“Wait, really?” She breathes. “You’ll train me?”

Batwoman nods, already feeling the headache coming on. “I will. You show no clear signs of stopping, so I have to teach you how _not_ to get killed out there. But are you sure?”

She has to ask. She can’t have a child’s life ruined without asking. 

“Are you sure you want to go down this path?” She asks warily. “It’s dangerous. Your bullet wound is gonna be the least of what you’ll go through if you choose this. And there’s no going back.”

Rachel contemplates this. Gears turn in her mind as she thinks of everything that could possibly be worse than getting grazed in the side. She absentmindedly twists an auburn curl around her finger.

Then, she looks Batwoman in the eye, a challenging smile growing on her excited features. 

“I’m ready.”


	2. How They Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Batgirl meets Percy Jackson, Gotham City's Robin.

Rachel hadn’t been surprised when she learned the identity of Batwoman.

She had already suspected Artemis Grace, the richest person in Gotham and the only person holding the city upright. She had definitely been number two on her list of Batwoman suspects (Megan Fox was number one). 

Robin, though, had surprised Rachel.

He was a couple of inches taller than her, with warm, deep, brown skin, jet black curls, and a troublemaker’s smile. The most striking thing about him, though, were his eyes. You couldn’t see them through his green domino mask. They were a deep green, like the ocean after a storm, and they seemed to change shades with his mood.

His name was Percy Jackson and he was beautiful.

It was peculiar, though, because the first time they met, he had tried to kill her.

Rachel had been sneaking around the Batcave while on water break from training with Artemis. She had seen the taller boy in one of the Batcave’s smaller rooms. He actually seemed slightly familiar, but Rachel couldn’t put her finger on it. 

He had been practicing with Batarangs, throwing them repeatedly into the wall. Rachel had watched with awe as they wedged themselves into the wall on his command.

“Hey!” She had said. Looking back on it, Rachel knows that sneaking up on a boy wielding deadly weapons wasn’t the smartest decision.

Percy had whipped in her direction, the Batarang flying from his fingers and towards a stunned Rachel. Luckily, she had ducked quickly enough.

“Geez, dude,” the redhead had grumbled. “Do you  _ always  _ try and kill people who’re just watching your form?”

“Sorry,” Percy had apologized with a cringe. Rachel merely shrugged.

“Artemis lets you use them?” She had asked. 

Percy nodded. “Yeah, um, I’ve been training for a while, so.”

Rachel gets to know Percy after that. She learns about his parents, about how his father had left and his mother had died in a Joker kidnapping when he was nine. 

She learns about how Artemis took him in and adopted him. How he became Robin, the symbol of hope for Gotham City’s youth. 

Rachel learns about Percy, his love for the color blue, his sweet tooth, his talent on the skateboard, and swimming. She realizes that she recognizes him because they both attend Gotham Academy.

Percy is Rachel’s best friend after that day and that never changes, even when everything else is determined to change it for them.


	3. Batgirl: Year One

_At thirteen, they’re inseparable._

* * *

Weekends like this one are spent out of the public eye, in the nostalgic safety of Grace Manor.

Rachel giggles as she turns a corner into Grace Manor’s many hallways. Hide and Seek is an experience in Grace Manor; there were twists and turns that Rachel barely knew but Percy had memorized.

It was slightly frustrating but it gave her the opportunity to explore the mansion. Rachel speeds down the old halls at breakneck speed, her eyes catching the many realistic paintings of the Grace family.

Zeus and Leto Grace, Artemis’ parents, are at the very end of the hall. Their portraits stare down at Rachel in a domineering manner. Leto is a pretty woman with short, curly, black hair and cool, dark skin. She was wearing a loose gold and black gown in the portrait. Zeus has a graying beard and thunderous blue eyes. The gaze of the painting is intimidating, so Rachel moves to the next one.

She examines the brush strokes at each painting, the colors, and the people. There’s one with Artemis and a young boy with shiny light brown hair. He has golden-brown eyes and he’s smiling in the portrait while Artemis has an arm around his shoulder with a cool expression. They looked to be around her age in the picture. 

Rachel knows who the boy is. Everybody heard the story of the tragic murder of Zeus, Leto, and Apollo Grace. The one that had orphaned Artemis and changed her world, and Gotham’s, forever.

The Artemis from the picture is young and unscarred by Gotham’s horrors. This leaves Rachel playing a game of compare and contrast between the mentor she knows and the girl in the portrait.

The Artemis in the portrait has a sly grin curling her lips, like the cool girls that Rachel sees from the high school. Her eyes seem to shine like she had been laughing before the painter had come. The tips of her straightened black hair are dyed silver and she’s wearing only a t-shirt and jeans in the picture. 

Rachel doesn’t think she’s ever seen Artemis wear a t-shirt and jeans before.

Artemis now has a short haircut up to her chin. Where, in the portrait, she was relaxed and carefree, the Artemis Rachel knew was always ready for attack. She’s guarded, calculating, and cautious. Rachel doesn’t think she’s ever seen her laugh the way she probably did before the portrait had been taken.

Rachel doesn’t know how she hasn’t been through this hall before. She takes mental notes. She wants to come back.

Rachel tears her eyes away, her eyes glancing around the room. With a sigh, she crosses her arms.

“You can come out now, Percy.”

A shuffle and a disappointed groan are heard as Percy drops down from the ceiling to meet Rachel’s unimpressed stare. He sticks the landing.

“Did you really think you could sneak up on me, Boy Wonder?” Rachel teases. She layers on the sarcasm with that one, even raising an eyebrow.

Percy huffs. “I’m the...the son of the world’s greatest detective. Of course, I can.”

The blunder around the word “son” isn’t lost on Rachel, but, for his sake, she ignores it.

“Gee, I thought that was Sherlock Holmes.”

“He’s not even a real person!”

She smirked at his appalled stare and turned back to the painting of Artemis and Apollo. Rachel notes Percy’s pensive stare.

“When I first got here,” he muses, “I thought that was her aunt or her sister or something.”

“Right?” Rachel crosses her arms, mentally playing Spot-The-Difference with the two different versions of her mentor. “I didn’t think she could look so…”

“Carefree?” 

“Yeah.”

The two stand in silence. The daunting legacy of the Grace family hangs on the walls with the portraits, and neither of them know how they can carry it.


	4. How It Continues

_ At fifteen, they’re trying. _

* * *

Percy is sick of being in Artemis’ shadow all the time. It’s always Batwoman and Robin. “And Robin”, is the point of emphasis.

He wants to be his own hero, not some sidekick.

Justice League meetings were always a drag. Sometimes, Robin had to go to the Hall of Justice and watch the people idolize his very flawed, very human mentor. Artemis’ statue glowers down at him from the Hall of Justice, her cowl scowls. The memory tugs his lips down in an unsatisfied frown.

There had to be more than Gotham, right?

At patrol that night, Percy tells Artemis this. The Boy Wonder kicked the side of the building they were sitting on as they watched the streets.

“Batwoman.”

A smug smirk crosses his features when she irritably glances in his direction. She hates it when he calls her name out of nowhere.

“Yes, Robin?” She responds, not taking her eyes off the streets.

“I don’t want to be in your shadow anymore.” 

She looks at him fully then. Percy can see the gears moving in her head, and it’s so intimidating he reaches up to scratch his mask.

“Yeah,” he says quietly. “I want to do something that matters. I want to make some sort of change and it’s so hard to do that when I’m automatically associated with you.”

A gloved hand reaches up to touch her chin. Percy knows that she’s thinking.

“Robin, you already mean something,” she starts. Batwoman gestures to the streets of Gotham. Her black armor clad knee props onto the ledge of the roof heroically. Her cape billows behind her. “You mean something to Gotham and you’re making your change little by little. You’re fifteen, though, you can’t...you can’t go full time like the Justice League.”

“So, I’m too young to do my own thing but I’m not too young to be your sidekick?”

“You’re not a sidekick.”

Percy rolls his eyes. “Sure. I’m  _ totally  _ not a sidekick. It’s just that every time someone thinks of my name they automatically associate it with  _ The Big Bat _ and I’m quite literally referred to as your sidekick.” His tone drips with sarcasm, and he knows that Artemis doesn’t appreciate it.

He stares at her. The white lenses of his green mask bore into her cowl. He’s serious, and he shouldn’t be dismissed because she thought he wasn’t ready.

“Robin, don’t take that tone with me,” she warns. Percy just scoffs and takes out his grapple hook. 

“I’m patrolling from the other side of town. See you at the cave.”

* * *

When Percy tells Rachel, she isn’t fazed.

Skipping class was a very usual event for the two. Hermes would scold him, but it was only  _ gym _ . 

Rachel lays on the roof next to him, popping her pink bubblegum. The oversized navy and grey gym uniform splay on the roof surrounding her. Her hands are folded on her stomach as she watches the clouds. Percy’s knees are drawn to his chest as he complains about last night to her.

“It’s just...how am I ever gonna do something good for Gotham when she insists on keeping me as her sidekick?” 

Rachel chews thoughtfully, smacking a little to annoy him. “Dunno.”

“I just don’t get it. Does she want me to be her sidekick till I’m thirty?”

“Dunno.”

“It’s so not fair!”

“Correct.”

Percy slices a glare at her. Rachel’s staring at the sky, perfectly carefree as he rants to her. Her curly red hair has been in black braids for a couple of months, so they lay flat around her head in a dark halo.

“I’ve been talking for too long, haven’t I?” He groans. Rachel smirks.

“Duh,” she teases, propping herself on one elbow to get a good look at him. “But, because I’m just the best friend  _ ever _ , I’ll give you some good advice.”

“How generous of you.”

“I know right,” she muses. There’s a glint in her eyes that she gets when she’s about to say something important. An infectious spark of excitement that makes a listener hang on her every word.

“Did the Justice League ask for permission to make the Justice League?” She asks simply.

Percy shakes his head. “No.”

“Exactly. They just... _ did _ ,” she shrugs. “There was a need for a coalition of superheroes, so they formed the Justice League. They didn’t ask the government or beg their mommies for permission. They went ahead and carpe diemed the heck out of it.”

Rachel fixes her intense gaze on Percy. “If you ever want to get out of her shadow, you need to stop asking for her permission. You’re your own hero, Percy. Time to act like it.”

He thinks about her words for the rest of the day. During patrol, he perches on a gargoyle and watches the distant form of Batwoman in the night. 

Then, he thinks about Robin and what the mantle means to him.

Robin doesn’t belong to Batwoman. Robin belongs to Percy Jackson. It’s dedicated to Sally Jackson, his mother. Robin carries years of light, love, and hope for Percy. Robin is who she wanted him to be, and it’s who he will aspire to be for the rest of his life.

Robin doesn’t just belong to Gotham, and  _ Robin  _ is no sidekick.

Percy calls a friend that evening. It’s his first time using the Batcomputer for access to the network of superheroes that Artemis has compiled for a decade or so.

He calls Kid Flash, or, as he knows him, Leo Valdez.

* * *

“Teen Titans?!” 

Rachel paces the length of her bedroom as she shrieks into the phone excitedly. A newsreel plays on the TV in front of her. The video depicts seven people fighting someone the reporter called  _ Mr. Twister _ . 

There’s Robin, Percy Jackson in all his red, yellow, and green-clad glory. A girl with dark hair in a red costume and silver bands around her forearms is fighting alongside him. A yellow blur streaks across the screen, from Percy’s information it’s Kid Flash. There’s a boy with a bow and arrow (which Rachel spent thirty minutes making fun of because  _ what the heck are arrows supposed to do? _ ). 

There’s also a girl with brown hair flying in the air and shooting  _ lasers out of her eyes _ at the villain and a robot dude.

_ A flying girl and a robot dude… _

Rachel needs to lie down.

“ _ The Teen Titans defeat the villainous Mr. Twister _ ,” Rachel reads out loud. “Dude, the Teen Titans are on national news!”

“I know right?” She can practically hear the lopsided grin in his voice. “It’s so weird. I kinda wish they’d gotten a better shot, though.”

“Something more heroic?” Rachel teases. “Next time, put your fists on your hips, Superman-style.”

“Hmm, I thought I’d prop my knee up, too. For triumph, you know?”

Rachel giggles and keeps watching the TV. “I’m proud of you, you know?” Her voice is embarrassingly soft. She hopes that he hears. “You’re really doing this.”

“Yeah,’ he answers, almost sounding as disbelieved as her. “ _ Wow _ .”

“The Teen Titans,” Rachel announces grandly. “Taking over the world!”

Percy chuckles, “I think we’re trying to prevent that.”

“Does Artemis know?” 

Rachel already knows the answer from his pointed silence. “If she didn’t know before, she definitely knows now, that’s for sure. And when she finds out, you’re  _ dead _ .”

“Thanks for making me feel better,” Percy deadpans. 

“You’re welcome.” Rachel piped cheerily. “You, know, I’m kind of offended you didn’t invite me to be on your team.”

Percy goes quiet again. Rachel rolls her eyes on the other line. 

“I’m kidding, Percy.”

“ _Oh!_ ”

He laughs then, and Rachel  _ really  _ wishes she could see his face. 

“Promise me things won’t change, though,” Rachel admits. “As much as I love my independence, I love the dynamic duo thing we have going on, too. So just...promise me that won’t change.”

When Percy speaks, it’s lighthearted and tender. Rachel doesn’t know if he wants to sock him or hug him.

“I promise, Red. It’s you and me, forever.”


	5. How They Continue

Apparently, forever didn’t mean anything because Percy won’t shut up about her.

Rachel groans as Percy, in full Robin uniform, rambles about something Annabeth said again. She’s trying to concentrate on the stakeout they’re on. They’re watching Two Face’s guys, trying to track a warehouse that Batwoman believed might hold a group of missing persons. Batwoman is at a different location, leaving the trio’s only method of communication being comms.

It’s Two-Face, though. He probably knows they’re coming, and he probably has a trap, a crossroads, ready for them.

Rachel has been crouched on a gargoyle for the past twenty minutes. It’s slightly hidden behind a building, the perfect angle to watch the target without being watched. Her new Batgirl cowl fits nicely on her head, and her curly hair isn’t too itchy.

Rachel feels incredibly powerful as she reported the henchman’s location to Artemis on comms.

The feeling of power fades, though, because Percy sees something and it reminds him of Annabeth so he has to tell her this.

Recently, Batgirl and Robin had been introduced to Flamebird.

She was nice enough. A bit arrogant, but she was enjoyable. Apparently, Annabeth Chase had been Batgirl before Rachel ever was. She was tall, blonde, and smart. She was also a year older than them and she had an obvious crush on Percy.

With his Teen Titans duties, Rachel barely saw Percy outside of school anymore. Part of her didn’t appreciate Annabeth Chase making Percy go all ga-ga.

Rachel shakes her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She needs to focus. She needs to focus on the very important, very high stakes, mission

Her eyes trail the man. Rachel snaps at Percy, her eyes cutting a trail between him and the henchman. The entire gesture tells him to  _ move _ , so she quickly jumps off, taking the ground while Percy runs on the rooftops.

Training drilled into her by Artemis kicks in. Knees bent, fall feet first, hit the ground with the balls of her feet, roll, and, for the love of all the gods,  _ stay quiet _ . 

Rachel rolls three times, quickly recovering to her feet without a sound. She mentally cheers herself on as they follow him. She checks to make sure that Percy is still behind her, watching her back. His black curly hair is visible from the ground and she nods to herself.

Maybe she would prove herself.

A gang war was brewing in Crime Alley. If they didn’t find some way to steal Two Face’s firepower and get the hostages out, then hell would break loose. People would die. 

She couldn’t let that happen.

Batwoman’s voice crackles in her earpiece, breaking the silence. “Batgirl, location?”

“Moving into The Cauldron,” Rachel says quietly. She doesn’t take her eyes off the guy. “I’m still tailing.”

“Robin? You have eyes on her and our guy?” 

Percy’s voice confirms. “Yeah. He doesn’t suspect a thing.”

A nearby fire escape provides a different mode of transportation. Rachel swings onto the ledge and holds out a hand for Percy, then she quietly scales it in seconds. 

When her head pops over the top of the building, her eyes meet the back of the henchman’s head. Thank goodness she hadn’t lost him.

“You okay?” Percy asks behind her. Rachel turns to meet the blank eyes of his mask. 

“I’m good. You?”

“I’m great.”

Without another word, they travel from rooftop to rooftop until the man stops in front of an unassuming apartment complex. 

“He’s stopped,” Rachel reports the address to Artemis. 

The faces of the kidnapping victims flash in her mind. The tear-stained cheeks of Abigail James, the sister of a victim, seem to burn in Rachel’s head. 

What if she was too late when she got there? What if they were already dead by the time Batwoman arrived?

She couldn’t take that risk.

“I’m moving in.”

She starts to run toward but Percy quickly grabs her arm. Batwoman’s warnings are ringing in her ears. Rachel tries to shake him off and starts toward the roof of the house.

“Let go of me.” Her voice sounds low and dangerous. The only thing she can concentrate on is the seven victims inside that house.

“Batgirl, please” he pleads. “I know you want to get out there, I do too. Just _wait_. Please. For me.”

Rachel looks him in the eyes. She wishes she could see his sea-green irises right now. This was unlike him. Percy would run into danger headfirst if it meant he could save someone. He’s even braver, even better than she is.

Rachel has been Batgirl for two years. She knows how to handle herself, and she can save the hostages. She can do this.

Rachel shakes him off and runs in the direction of the apartment complex. 

In the future, she’ll realize how stupid that decision was. Rachel will also have an even deeper understanding of her relationship with Percy. She’ll understand that when he said forever that evening on the call, he meant forever. He would always have her back, and she would always have his.

Because of this, Percy follows her. They’re Batgirl and Robin, and they’ll face whatever is in store for them together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if u didnt catch on, percy didnt want rachel to get hurt there


	6. That's The Way It Goes

_ At sixteen, they can only be there _

* * *

On the night of his sixteenth birthday, Percy leaves the Batcave alone.

His relationship with Artemis can only be described as strained. She’s absent at best and full-blown dismissive at her worst. 

Percy sometimes misses the times when he was ten. The nights when Artemis would carry him home when he fell asleep on patrol, when she would call him son when she thought he couldn’t hear.

As he grew up, she seemed to think that because he was a teenager, that meant he no longer needed emotional support. It was frustrating that she could push him aside for one thing or the other repeatedly.

It’s always something. Grace Industries duties calling, or Batwoman duties, or Justice League duties, it was  _ always something _ . 

Today, it was Batwoman duty.

Artemis has been working on a case for a couple of weeks, and she could sacrifice his birthday for it.

Percy feels like he should be used to it by now. Even before Artemis adopted him, his mom would spend almost the whole day at work trying to support them. Gabe, his abusive stepfather, would berate him so much he would wish to be left alone. And, eventually, he did.

Even if Percy technically led the Teen Titans, even if he still had school, and homework, and cases and clubs and charities he technically has to do as the teenaged Grace heir, he still makes time. He still brings Artemis hot chocolate when she’s in her office working too late. He still slips her decaf when she asks for espresso because she hasn’t slept in days. Percy still notices and, despite everything, he’s still kind-of her charge.

It had been just him and Hermes today. The butler had surprised him with an all-out breakfast, then he had to go to school, where Rachel had surprised him with a new skateboard. Even though he had, like, seven, this one was personally customized by her. Black with thick, bold, strokes of neon colors. Rachel had excitedly explained to him the chemical compounds she had used to make it glow in the dark and Percy had been thrilled. 

Something fuzzy grows in his heart at the thought of Rachel, his mouth unexpectedly turns up. Her frenetic passion and witty charm had helped her burrow a way through his defenses. They’re so different, but they mesh so well.

Rachel is Percy’s favorite person, ever.

Artemis had gotten him gifts, too. A set of Batarangs, a new grapple hook, an engraved collapsible staff, a new bike, and a set of black earrings. 

Percy hadn’t asked for these things. Actually, he hadn’t asked for anything at all. This year he only wanted to not feel so alone. 

As the technical son of Artemis Grace, the richest person in Gotham, things get lonely. Kids at school over and underestimated at the same time. Friends were incredibly difficult to come by, and don’t even  _ get  _ him started on the tabloids. 

As Robin, he has Batgirl and Hermes. On rare occasions, he has Artemis, as Batwoman, of course. Sometimes they would patrol together, and the hard lines of her face would soften when he told a joke. Occasionally, she would let him stop to get ice cream with Batgirl and they would watch the city in comfortable silence.

Percy sighs as he sits on a rooftop in uniform. He stares at Gotham as the night falls, a cloud of darkness rolling in on the slate grey of the evening. Skyscrapers grow dim, the glass reflects the velvet black of the sky. One by one, tiny squares of yellow flicker on in apartments and office complexes.

The world is supposed to fall asleep with the night, but not Gotham. Never Gotham, because Gothamites keep moving. They plow right through the disturbances of masked psychopaths, the needs of the youth, and the demands of nightfall. Gotham City is unforgiving and quick to move on.

Gotham reminds Percy of Artemis. 

Just as the hot dog guy on 6th packed up his cart, something small and hard, like a pebble, taps Percy’s back. He turns to see Rachel, her curly red hair tucked underneath the Batgirl cowl. Her black and purple Kevlar suit and yellow utility belt tell Percy that she’s patrolling, but she’s holding a blue cupcake in her hand with a grin.

“Hey, Boy Blunder,” she teases, coming to sit next to him on the ledge. “A little birdie told me that you turned sixteen and your emo ass came to patrol alone.”

Percy laughs shortly, jostling his best friends’ shoulder with his own. “You’re the one who came to sit with my ‘emo ass’ so that makes you emo by association.”

“You got me there, Robin.”

Percy turns to look at Rachel properly. Her full lips turned upward in her genuine smile. Brown skin marred by freckles and a couple scars reflect the street lights shining from beyond them. Her cowl isn’t like Artemis’, it’s not cold and expressionless. He can see Rachel’s eyes. She has green eyes that go muddy in the middle, so maybe they were hazel, he can’t decide.

Rachel bumps his shoulder. “Stop looking at me like that.” 

She blushes a bit as she hands him the blue cupcake. It’s still warm. “Happy birthday, Boy Blunder.”

“Thanks, Batgirl,” he says softly. Percy doesn’t know why, but small gestures always touch him. He likes that about Rachel, she’s always doing and noticing small things. He likes that about his family, actually. It was the privilege of growing up in the family of The World’s Greatest Detective.

Rachel nods silently, which is so unlike her. Percy’s eyebrows furrow. 

“What’s wrong?” He asks her. Rachel bites her bottom lip, a motion that spikes a strange emotion in Percy, and looks him dead in the eye. They’re really close, their noses could touch. 

“Are things with you and Ar--Batwoman…” She chooses her words wisely. “Okay? Patrol yesterday was really tense and you’ve been avoiding bringing her up all day and it’s just…”

Percy shakes his head. The feeling of his curls hitting his ears is a bit comforting. Hermes keeps telling him he should get a haircut. “We’re okay, it’s not like it’s anything new,” he says sadly.

Rachel nods, to show she’s listening. Percy doesn’t want to be sad, so he splits the cupcake between them. 

“Thanks for the cupcake, Batgirl.” 

She grins, her entire face lighting up in a way that makes Percy catch his breath. “No problem! I had Hermes’ help with it, so you shouldn’t taste the food dye in it!”

She keeps talking, excitedly, and animatedly. Percy raises an eyebrow amusedly, his lips turning up crookedly. Eventually, he stuffs her half of the cupcake in her mouth. 

Rachel glares at him as she chews and swallows and flips him the bird. 

“Rude.”

“If you kept talking, you were gonna run out of oxygen.”

“That’s not even a thing!” She protests. Percy laughs. The hard, sorrowful lines around his face smooth into joy and, for a moment, it feels like Percy isn’t a vigilante with an emotionally confusing mentor. He feels like a normal teenager sitting on a rooftop with his best friend and watching the nightfall on Gotham City.

They finish the cupcake in pleasant silence. Rachel stands up, dusting the remnants of blue crumbs on her form-fitting suit, and holds out a hand to Percy.

“As your last present of the day,” she says with a smirk. “We’re gonna bust a drug deal in The Bowery. Batwoman said we could have our bikes. You up for it?”

Percy matches her smug expression with his cocky, sideways grin. He aims his grappling hook at the building near them, tossing Rachel a smile before jumping off.

“I always am.”


	7. Then They Catch Feelings

_ When someone you love gets hurt, there’s a terrifying amount of possibilities that suddenly become clear.  _

_ You can’t help but think of everything that could possibly go wrong.  _

_ Most of all, you start regretting everything you didn’t say. Every revelation that was lurking in the shadows of your mind seems to step into the light.  _

_ It is a fascinating and paralyzing phenomenon. _

* * *

It’s cold in the medbay.

Percy vaguely registers the burning pain in his shoulder. It’s red hot, searing his flesh and peeling it back layer by layer until the only thing in the world is his consciousness and the tight ball of pain.

The combination of the two elements creates a tingling feeling all over Percy’s body. His body is at war with his environment. His pain battling his surroundings.

He remembers Artemis discovering the Joker’s location. Percy remembers going after the Joker alone. He remembers Artemis’ attempts to stop him.

He remembers not listening.

“You’re going to be alright, Master Percy,” a voice says. It’s deep, a posh baritone that steadies him at the moment. _Hermes_. 

“Okay.”

Percy cringes from the pain. It hurts to breathe, he probably broke a rib. A trickle of blood travels down his calf.

He distinctly recalls being thrown into a glass window, so that was probably it.

His senses adjust like fine-tuning of an instrument. The dark ceiling of the Batcave. The damp, sticky, patch of blood on his right shoulder. Artemis, or Batwoman, worriedly holding his bloodied, gloved hand as Hermes cleans out the wound.

A voice, frantic and worried, calls his name. Before he blinks, Rachel is there beside him, horror overcoming her features. She’s still dressed as Batgirl, fear shines in her cowl-lined green eyes.

A delirious thought passes through his head. She looks absolutely, radiantly, _beautiful_.

The process of treating his wounds ends an hour or so later, and Artemis looks like she’s ready to tear him a new one now that he’s safely sitting on the couch.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” She demands. Her dark eyes are glittering in rage. Percy would back away if he could move painlessly. 

He opens his mouth to answer, but Artemis keeps talking. He shoots Rachel a help look, but she just shrugs and turns her head.

“You  _ weren’t  _ thinking, Percy, that’s the  _ problem _ ! You should have just followed my orders. You should have just stayed here, but you  _ had  _ to go after the damn Joker! And alone! You could have-"   


Artemis stops. She sinks into a chair, from one hundred to zero. She cradles her head in her hands, completely deflated of all anger and helpless to the millions of horrifying thoughts that could have been Percy’s fate.

This was a rare moment of complete vulnerability and emotion. Percy’s only seen her like this four times in the seven years he’s spent with her. That had been the time he had gotten beaten up by Two-Face when he was twelve, the time the Riddler had captured Hermes, and other instances that followed the same route.

It’s _terrifying_. 

Rachel doesn’t even try to hide her jaw drop from the corner of the room.

Guilt suddenly fills Percy. He must have screwed up bad if he could get the ever stoic and collected Batwoman to break down in front of him.

The room is alarmingly silent. Percy wants to bolt but he can’t even reach for a pen without pain erupting in his body. At least Rachel’s come to sit by him, their thighs touching on the couch.

When Artemis looks up, there’s a plan in her eyes. Her black eyes look into Percy’s green, and a very real fear of what she’s about to say creeps into his mind.

“You’re benched.” She says simply, squaring her shoulders. There was no sign of a couple minutes ago on her face, just the stone-cold blank.

“What?!” 

Percy abruptly stands up, then immediately regrets it. He doesn’t miss Artemis’ flinch as he sits back down. He glares at her.

“You can’t do that!”

“I can and I have,” she says cooly. “You’re not my partner anymore, Percy.”

Indignation and anger rise like flames in his chest. His eyes sting with emotion. This can’t be happening.

“ _What the hell?_ ” He shouts. “I get that you’re mad about tonight, but-”

“No,” Artemis interrupts him. Her voice threatens to rise. “It’s that you almost died tonight. If we hadn't found you, you’d be in the morgue right now. Do you understand that?”

“These things happen, Artemis,” Percy says. “That’s just the risk.”

“It’s an unnecessary one I refuse to put on you any longer,” Artemis says evenly. Then she gets up and walks to the doorway. Percy stares her down as she leaves. Disbelief and something like hurt brew inside him. 

Before she leaves, Artemis says something. 

“I want the keys to your bike, your batarangs, and your weapons in the cave tomorrow morning. I will not be supporting Robin financially any longer. Please...just stop. I-I love you and goodnight.”

With a sigh, she retreats to her room. Rachel hasn’t moved, Percy’s still in shock. The joint shock of getting fired by Artemis and her telling him she loves him for the third time in his life is taking a toll on him.

Finally, Percy looks at Rachel meaningfully. Determination flashes in his eyes, and Rachel catches on to it. He’s not backing down, even if he doesn’t get to be Robin anymore. She grabs his good hand. 

“I almost lost you,” she says quietly. Her red hair is frizzy, and she has cowl hair. It’s mussed up and the light makes it look a bit ethereal. “I almost lost you to  _ Joker _ .”

Percy processes the fact that he almost died. Rachel is holding his hand firmly like she’s afraid he’ll fly away if she lets go. He chooses to look her square in the eyes and raise their joined hands, squeezing her hand back.

“You can try but you’re never getting rid of me,” he says quietly. Rachel smiles, and Percy’s breath catches. She really has a beautiful smile.

She bumps his good shoulder. “I hope I’ll get the opportunity to try for the rest of my life.”

The words are light, said almost in a joking manner. They make Percy’s heart stop, though. It’s then he realizes that he really can’t imagine life without Rachel. 

He can vividly think of pulling all-nighters with her in college. He can’t imagine not fighting crime with her side by side. 

And, surprisingly, he can’t even comprehend falling out with her. Rachel is a constant in his life, one of few. There’s something exciting about the prospect of growing with her without outgrowing her.

“You still with me, Rache?” He asks her, tiredly laying his head on her shoulder. Rachel ruffles his hair and does something surprising. She presses a kiss to his hair. She decides to lie down the way they have a million times. It’s not like cuddling is a new thing for them, but butterflies flap in his stomach anyway.

“Always, Boy Wonder,” she muses. “You might need to get a new name, though.”


	8. And So It Goes

Percy splits time between the Teen Titans and Gotham. He avoids Artemis, feeling like their relationship is permanently on the strain. Most of the Gotham days are spent with Rachel, at her place.

In the window of time, Percy finds that something has changed in the way he thinks about Rachel.

He stares at her a lot more now. Not because she’s weird but because she’s...kind of amazing.

A lot of things they do platonically makes heat rush to his cheeks. When they fall asleep together after hours spent studying for tests, he wakes up and he doesn’t want to disturb her. He just...looks at her and appreciates the peaceful nature of her in the early hours of the morning.

More of the time, he wants to hold her just so she’s close. When they patrol, Percy almost crushes her in his arms because  _ she’s safe _ .

(Percy also recognizes the time he couldn’t stop looking at her lips because she tried out a bright lipstick and it distracted him for the rest of the day but he understands that is better kept in his head.)

It’s a peculiar thing, falling in love, Percy realizes.

* * *

It’s two AM on Saturday when Rachel figures it out.

Senior year was coming to a close, graduation was nearing. They had gone to some end of finals party that Percy’s swim team friend was throwing, then the Riddler had decided that was a good time to rig up the governor’s mansion with explosives that they had to stop.

It had been an exhausting, exhilarating day.

Even with the steady amount of crime that was characteristic of Gotham City, Percy  _ still  _ didn’t have a proper identity. 

This is what Rachel is figuring out.

She shakes Percy out of his chilled state with bright eyes and a crazed smile. “Eu-freaking-reka, Perseus Jackson! I got your new name!” 

He groans and flops over on her bed. They had been trying to figure out how to retire Percy’s Robin persona. Unfortunately, the costume designing process and name-finding process were much more difficult than either of them had thought.

Rachel is running around her room and looking through bookcases. Percy quirks an eyebrow as he watches her.

“Hello to the manic pixie dream girl that’s taken over my best friend,” he grumbles. “It’s too damn late for this.”

Rachel tosses a glare at him over her shoulder before producing a thick, leather-bound book. It’s titled “The Culture of Krypton” and it’s by some person that Percy doesn’t care about.

She sits down beside him and flips to a dog-eared page. Lined in blue highlighter was a sentence.

_ In Kryptonian mythology, a man was cast out by his family. He sought to create a world governed by justice; one where the helpless are helped and the weak are lifted up by the strong. We know not of his origins or his name, so he is called  _ **_Nightwing_ ** _. _

Rachel meets his eyes. The beginning of a smile lifts up her lips. 

“Percy, that’s _you_. You’re Nightwing.”

Percy reads and rereads those lines. His wants, his hopes, and his dreams take a front seat in his mind. He wants to protect the innocents and carry out justice in Gotham. His newfound independence has left him feeling lost and without a course of action.

Nightwing is the first arrow in the right direction.

His fingers ghost over the page as he breathes out a laugh. He turns to meet Rachel’s eyes.

“Rachel, you’re amazing, you know that?”

She grins. “Yeah, I know.”

Their faces are really close. It kind of reminds Percy of his sixteenth birthday. The air seems charged with electricity, pulling the two together.

He almost thinks he imagines it, but Rachel’s eyes flicker to his lips.

His hands seem to work on their own accord as they come up to cup her face, she leans into his touch and rests her hands on his chest. 

“ _ Rachel _ .”

Percy’s voice comes out soft as he leans in closer, hesitating. He can feel her breath on his mouth and she’s looking at him through her lashes and it’s  _ honestly  _ driving him crazy.

It’s Rachel that takes the jump and connects their lips, going for it when he hesitates. 

A giddy part of his brain thinks something about new beginnings. Well, up until she tilts her head to deepen the kiss and pushes a hand through his hair because he’s not thinking much after that.


	9. The End Is Merely The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shoutout to lagoness84 for beta reading this!

_ At eighteen, they’re charting new paths. _

* * *

Graduation was exciting but prom was a drag.

In their almost six years at Gotham Academy, Percy and Rachel had somehow not made friends with any normal, non-vigilante, person. That made events like prom positively boring.

Sure, the party lights were pretty, but the music was terrible, and watching teenagers dry hump to some trashy pop song wasn’t on either of their to-do lists.

“Wanna leave?” Rachel had screamed to him over the music. 

Percy had flashed his troublemaker’s smile at her, tugging at his collar uncomfortably. “I really thought you’d never ask.”

After thirty minutes, they leave to get Batburger. Rachel had pulled into an alleyway halfway and pulled off her dress and sweatshirt to reveal the Batgirl costume underneath. Percy had to change, though, and Rachel had spent _way_ too much time making fun of him for it.

The cashier at Batburger had been stunned into silence when Batgirl and Nightwing walked in during the night shift. He said it was on the house, which was nice. Rachel had visibly frowned her nose at the Jokerized fries option, though. Percy had cringed and quickly denied that, too.

“Freaking _capitalism_ ,” Rachel had whispered to him as she popped a plain fry in her mouth. Percy had laughed so hard he almost spat out his water.

They make their way to the Clocktower and scale it for fun. Rachel had made the Clocktower her base of operations a year ago, so her art stuff was littered everywhere. 

They sat by the giant face of the clock and Rachel admires Percy’s face under the yellowed light. Percy as Nightwing was a whole new thing for him, but he was doing great. His black domino mask covered his green eyes, the black and electric blue costume stood out in the dim atmosphere of the Clocktower.

Rachel had gotten a costume update, too. It wasn’t anything special, just a lot more Kevlar and black. The great thing about it, though, was that her cape was butt-length now, which was such a relief from the cape she had spent years tripping over.

Percy caught her eye and smiled, gesturing her over to him. He leaned against the wall as she cuddled up to him. The inner workings of the Clocktower chimed out of tune with the rise and fall of his chest.

It was a moment of peace in their hectic lives. Surely, there was a crime going on somewhere. That prick in Rachel’s heart that yearned to help others appeared, but she managed to brush it aside. She wanted to enjoy this moment with her favorite person after everything they’ve been through. 

Once upon a time, they were thirteen. Batgirl and Robin. The Dynamic Duo. Children who were trying to change their small sector of the world.

They give their souls to this city every day. They pour their blood in its streets and hope for the best, holding each other through the aftermath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaah thank you so much for reading this! comments and kudos are appreciated!


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